He said the department and Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School wished to convey their deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Jeremy Strachan.

An uncle of the dead man, Peter O’Reilly, who lives in Perth, had contacted The Leader with the news and said Mr Strachan’s family were finding it difficult to gather the necessary money to repatriate the body to either Tamworth or Queensland.

However, just before going to press, last night Jeremy’s father contacted The Leader to challenge those claims.

Craig Strachan said Jeremy’s funeral was to be held in Bell, Queensland, on Tuesday, and the family was upset by claims made by Mr O’Reilly.

Mr Strachan had a troubled education at Farrer in the late 1990s and had raised the prospect of launching a legal action against the school when another student had successfully sued the department.

Mr O’Reilly said it would have been an appropriate gesture from the school or its old boys organisation to contribute money to assist the family to repatriate Mr Strachan to the east of Australia – a process he understood would cost between $10,000 and $15,000.

The departmental spokesman said: “It is not appropriate to comment publicly about any personal information concerning Mr Strachan’s time as a student at Farrer.

“The department’s records do not show any claims have been directed to the department in relation to Mr Strachan’s career at the school.”

The spokesman also said that during investigations by the WA Coroner, it would be inappropriate to make further comment on the subject of Jeremy

Strachan.